Catholics Ask: Will Donations Go For Lawsuit?

Settlements In Sex-abuses Cases Can Run Into Tens Of Millions Of Dollars, And The Money To Cover Them Has To Come From Somewhere.

April 21, 2002|By Anthony Colarossi, Sentinel Staff Writer

As the collection plate passes at Sunday Mass, some Catholics in Central Florida are asking themselves a question: Could the money they're donating ultimately be used to settle a sex-abuse claim against a priest?

With settlements for abuse claims in some dioceses amounting to millions of dollars, the question of how the church finances those payoffs has become a particularly urgent one.

"I presumed it came from collections," said Sue Serio, a parishioner at Church of the Annunciation in Altamonte Springs.

Serio's presumption is partly correct. Individual dioceses have been buying liability-insurance policies for years and providing themselves with coverage in the event of sexual-abuse claims lodged against priests. Premiums are ultimately paid for by parishioners' contributions to individual churches.

The Diocese of Orlando uses such insurance along with other church funds to provide what's called "victim assistance" in the event of a sexual-abuse claim. But the church won't say who provides the coverage, how much it costs or many other details.

The diocese does confirm that it has provided some victims with spiritual, emotional and financial assistance through the years. It would not say how much victim assistance has been paid. Officials say no current claims exist.

But that wasn't the case as recently as 1996. From 1973 to that year, seven priests in the Orlando diocese were accused of or admitted to molesting nearly three dozen youths, according to court documents and interviews.

The diocese has remained unscathed by this most recent round of scandals, but money matters have been discussed openly in church here since the revelations of abuse in other dioceses.

The Very Rev. Patrick. J. Caverly, Annunciation's pastor and diocesan vicar general, and Stephen D. Parkes, Annunciation associate pastor, both recently told parishioners "that the diocese has insurance coverage to assist with costs of these situations," a diocesan spokeswoman said. Serio recalls Caverly's reassuring parishioners, "Your money is not being used to pay off these settlements."

"I mean, I was flabbergasted," Serio said. "I didn't even know you could get insurance for anything like that."

Steve Roddenberry, a state Department of Insurance deputy director, said churches typically insure themselves with a commercial general-liability policy issued by any provider handling such business. Such policies generally include protection for employers in the event their employees are accused of sexual harassment or molestation. He said he couldn't estimate the cost for the diocese.

INSURANCE ISN'T ENOUGH

But insurance alone might not cover the entire cost of settlements reached with victims of abuse.

That's what happened in the Dallas diocese, after a judge in 1997 ordered the diocese to pay nearly $120 million in damages to child-abuse victims of former priest Rudolph Kos. The parties later reached a $31 million settlement.

Bronson Havard, spokesman for the Diocese of Dallas, said about $20 million of that total was covered by a diocese liability policy.

The remaining $11 million, Havard said, was initially paid by the diocese by mortgaging several diocese buildings. Within four years of the judgment and settlement, the diocese paid down that debt by selling several "surplus properties" it owned.

NO EFFECT ON PARISHIONERS

In the end, Havard said, the money paid to settle the case never "financially impacted the people in the pews or the kids in the schools."

Because there is no current claim against any of its priests, the diocese administration considers questions about its finances and how settlements and legal suits are handled to be illegitimate, "egregious and discriminating" and "not the [Orlando] Sentinel's business," diocese spokeswoman Carol Brinati said.

But for some Catholics, the question is a burning concern. A national Gallup poll conducted in late March found that 30 percent of Catholics say they are now less likely to contribute money to the church. Church officials in Orlando say they have not seen any drop-off in collections, but they would not release specific numbers.

"How is it being used? Is it being used prudently?" Serio said. "In general conversation, that's what you hear."

An Orlando Sentinel investigation in 1995 found that the diocese had paid millions in settlements to victims involved in dozens of attacks by seven priests. The diocese denies that millions were spent but won't say how much in victim assistance has been paid or when the most recent pay-out occurred.

ORLANDO DIOCESE PREPARED

The Orlando diocese has significant assets in the event of a financial disaster. It owns 82 parcels with an assessed value of $75.5 million in Orange County alone, according to the Property Appraiser's Office. The diocese also owns property in eight other counties in a district that stretches from Ocala to Cocoa Beach to Lakeland.

Brinati said the diocese has not sold any property to pay for settlements involving priests and child sexual abuse.

For many in the diocese, the allegations of abuse that surfaced here in the 1990s are ancient history because they involved attacks that occurred many years before they were made public.

The Rev. Christopher Hoffmann, pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Clermont, said he doesn't know much about the diocesan insurance policy his church pays into because he hasn't been involved in settling a lawsuit.

"It's sort of like volcano insurance," he said. "We don't worry about [the problem] because we don't have it."